Sometimes the hardest lessons to learn are the ones closest to you. As an educator who tries to create new pathways of learning, I experienced problems right in my own house.

When my son was learning to read, I tried everything I could think of to get him to sit down with a book. He resisted every effort and I was convinced that I, of all people, was raising a nonreader. But at the same time, he was obsessed with Yu-Gi-Oh cards, a collectible card game. He had read and memorized every description of every character on each card, and he had a lot of cards. He was learning, not my way, but he was learning. My young “nonreader” now reads daily and has come to appreciate books for the magical experience they are.

I translate this lesson into my work every day, trying to make sure we teach 21st-century students in ways that work for them. These students communicate through text messaging and abbreviated language. So how is it this technologically advanced, creative and complex group is leaving high school ill prepared for college and the workforce? Perhaps we, as educators, no longer speak their language. Our teaching methods have not kept pace with their learning styles and means of absorbing and retaining information. How do we change this spiraling decline?

Multiple Learning Approaches

How would you like to be able to lean over every student’s shoulder as they try to learn? You could offer support, point out key parts in a text or just make sure they understand a concept. While this is physically impossible in a class of 25 students, a new type of electronic textbook allows teachers to replicate this feeling by inserting notes into a digitized version of the textbook. The notes can be personalized for each student or group of students, and can allow a teacher to embed their own study guides, outside lecture materials and even their own thinking processes into their e-text.

Students can access their “teacher within the text” as they are listening and reading. Online definitions and study skill tools are instantly available and the text becomes alive, vivid and interactive as well as matching the student’s comfort zone.

My students using this e-text method report the speech feature within the text helps them focus and block out distractions. A popular feature is to create two screens and take notes next to the text and study guide. Research has shown that students who use supportive technology become better readers. According to a study detailed in the Annals of Dyslexia, these students are less distracted, read with less stress and fatigue, and complete reading assignments in less time when they use supportive technology.

The basic skills and reading challenges of our K–12 students are of grave concern to our society. We must find solutions to these problems. We must respond to their needs in a way they can understand and relate to. My experience with my son only reinforced my belief that we need to work with kids on their own terms, in the language they understand.

STACEY KAYDEN is a learning specialist at Laney College in Oakland, Calif., and works with the group College in Focus. She will also be speaking at the Technology, Reading & Learning Diversity annual conference in San Francisco on Jan. 25.